In article ,
T.C.Roll-Pickering@qmul.ac.uk (Tim Roll-Pickering) wrote:

> James Farrar wrote:
> 
> >>Of course making it legit to not use all the preferences does 
> >>rather clash with the basic principle of compulsory voting - that 
> >>all voters must cast a valid vote.
> 
> > Does that necessarily follow? Provided the secret ballot is intact,
> > the voter retains the option to spoil his ballot paper to create an
> > effective abstention...
> 
> Yes but AFAIK an informal is an abstention from the *entire* 
> election so it doesn't even count in the first round. You're right 
> that it seems hard to enforce - and I've read that machines in the 
> Australian Capital Territory do allow informals to be cast - but 
> the basic principle is still rooted. 

AIUI "informal" is just the Strine for "invalid".

-- 
Cllr. Colin Rosenstiel
Cambridge                    http://www.rosenstiel.co.uk/
Cambridge Liberal Democrats: http://www.cambridgelibdems.org.uk/